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Friday, July 29, 2011

I was recently treated to a preview of The Generous Pour wine event at The Capital Grille in Buckhead. The event is going on right now at all CG locations and lasts through September 4. Here's the deal: for $25 you can try as many of the nine features wines as you'd like with your dinner. This is an exceptional value for wine drinkers as the wines represent a wide price range and hail from several countries including Spain, Italy, France and Australia. The Capital Grille's master sommelier George Miliotes travelled the globe to pick out the perfect nine wines for this showcase and at the event we enjoyed a live webcast with him, including a question and answer segment. Click here to see all the featured wines as well as a short video clip featuring Mr. Miliotes. My favorite wines include the Marquis de la Tour, Cremant de Loire Brut, a sparkling wine that paired wonderfully with the appetizers we tried. I am also a huge fan of the RL Buller, The Portly Gentleman port, which I enjoyed more than any other dessert wine I've ever tried.

The food was wonderful as well. I especially enjoyed the calamari, the steak (of course) and the ice cream with strawberries. This is a wonderful way to enjoy a variety of high quality wines without buying nine entire bottles. You can have as much as you'd like of these fabulous wines for $25.

Proscuitto wrapped housemade mozzarella with vine ripe tomatoes.

Pan fried calamari with hot peppers.

Cedar-planked salmon - lovely presentation and tasty as well.

Lobster mac & cheese - heavenly and rich.

Sauteed spinach with garlic - great to have something green on the table.

Ice cream with strawberries and port reduction - so delicious with the port served as part of The Generous Pour.

Las Palmeras is a quirky, hole in the wall Cuban restaurant tucked into Atlanta's midtown neighborhood. Although the service can be a bit slow when they are busy, the food is well worth it and the family-run place has been around for a long time. The Cuban sandwich is one of the best in the city and I also love the fruity milkshakes. The location is a bit hard to find so you should definitely print out and map and/or believe your GPS when it tells you to go down a residential street - the restaurant and attached store is the only business on the block.

We recently took my dad here and service was exceptionally slow; however, we still enjoyed our food and the view from the cozy patio. The wait was mostly on the front end, however. Once we placed our order the food came pretty quickly - it was just that initial wait for someone to take our drink order etc. that can really set the meal off on the wrong foot. It would help a lot if they could bring out some bread first off, maybe with some dip or sauce. Then the wait wouldn't seem quite as long! It appears that they often have only one waitress/server/greeter and this is way too much for one person on a busy night. Still, it's worth a try if you know in advance it might be a little slow as the food really is good.

Monday, July 25, 2011

The finished product - homemade for sure but there's no doubt who this is!

My favorite 8 year old requested a SpongeBob cake this year so I thought it time to try some amateur cake decorating. I used red hots as part of the shirt and cookie icing on top of homemade lemon frosting for the design. It's not the most beautiful design but it was really tasty and most importantly, the birthday girl loved it. Always fun to try something new!

A work in progress. I had to print out a photo of Bob so I could draw him on the cake! It was yellow cake with lemon frosting. I used a new recipe for the cake and it turned out moist and tasty.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

While my dad was visiting we took a group out to Gu's Bistro, a fairly new Szechuan Chinese spot just OTP in a strip mall on Buford Highway. This is now one of my new favorites, mostly because of the unique, delicious dishes served and the huge menu. Gu's also offers dim sum set lunch meals available by reservation on some weekends. Once a large enough group makes a reservation, other smaller parties can too and the dim sum is served course by course individually, instead of on carts. I really want to do this soon! The smoked duck and cumin lamb were outstanding as was the eggplant, which had just the right level of spice without the grease that sometimes accompanies this dish. I will definitely be back. This is definitely a fun new destination in the Atlanta area.

Menu - they have a traditional Szechuan menu as well as the American favorites for your non-adventurous friends.

Eggplant with garlic sauce.

Cumin lamb - very spicy and delicious - not for those who can't handle a little heat!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

I was very excited to try Nava's new brunch menu after being invited to a special brunch event on a Friday morning back in May. I had never been to Nava before, although its Southwestern concept has always intrigued me. After trying some of the brunch items I hope to go back soon for dinner or another brunch. Everything was delicious. I especially liked the shrimp & grits taco, the Johnny cakes and the brunch-inspired cocktails. Nava is a neat place to take someone for a unique and special meal and is one of the few Southwestern restaurants in our city.

Nava Taco Trio: chipotle BBQ brisket, shrimp & grits and fish. The shrimp & grits taco was much better than I expected - I think it was the smoked tomato grits.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Signature dish - seared ostrich with mushrooms and onions. This is one tasty steak, and healthier for you than beef too.

I was invited to try Tantra back in May. Located on Peachtree Road, next door to Imperial Fez, Tantra is a real treat. Calvin and I enjoyed a spectacular meal with great ambiance and service. The hummus with lamb and the scallops were my favorite dishes and the desserts were awesome too. They also offer an ostrich filet, which is very tender and delicious - something different is always fun too. This is a great special occasion place and with the lovely bar, also a nice place for drinks and appetizers or dessert!

Tasty, although a bit salty, flat bread provided at the beginning of the meal with a tasty herb butter - we liked the butter so much we had to ask for more!

Lamb tartar with shallot butter on matzah - very tasty and unique, but not as much lamb flavor as the hummus with lamb, below.

Hummus tahini with sauteed lamb - one of my favorite dishes of the evening. Absolutely delicious!

Tantra has several inventive cocktails including the Tantric, left, which includes fresh thyme and Elderflower liquor.

Lemon scented Italian doughnuts + warm white chocolate cake with vanilla-lavender ice cream and berries. Both of these are wonderful and unique. I was already full when I got to the dessert course but I had to taste these anyway - so glad I did!

Espresso and Sambuca drink - great way to end the evening.

The dining room is dark, romantic and sensual - as it should be at a place called Tantra!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Served with corn tortillas, sauteed chicken and onions with avocado and sour cream. Oven baked nachos round out this delicious meal. For the oven baked nachos, spread large chips on a cookie sheet, spoon a small amount of salsa on each chip, followed by a bit of shredded cheese. Top with a jalepeno slice if desired. Then bake at 425 for 5-8 minutes until melted.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Local Three is one of my new favorites in Atlanta. Cal and I had a delicious celebratory dinner there a couple of months ago. Since then I've heard great things about their brunch from others and I am excited to go back again for lunch, brunch or dinner as the menu has changed dramatically since our visit. I'd also love to sit on the patio when it cools down again, a really nice atmosphere out there. Inside is great too, with cute photos of pigs and Elivs memorabilia throughout. Our server was on point, as were the busboys who tended to our water needs nonstop.

Highlights of dinner included the lamb sandwich, the razor clams and the dessert. If you haven't been here, go soon.